London got run over by the Mooseheads

If there ever was a need for a mercy rule in hockey then boy did the London Knights need to be put out of their misery. The Halifax Mooseheads just beat on the London Knights 9-2 at the Memorial Cup on Tuesday night earning at the very least a spot in the semifinals.

This one was over very quickly as Halifax scored 5 first period goals on just 11 shots as the QMJHL champions could do no wrong against the OHL champs. The lead stretched to 7-0 before London scored 2 late second period goals to get on the board. Nathan MacKinnon and Jonathan Drouin both had 3 assist nights and to be honest they could have had many more if they really wanted.

The Mooseheads had 9 power play chances and the harder London tried the worse the Mooseheads made it for them. As talented as Max Domi and Bo Horvat are and they deserve to be picked in the first round, they just weren't even level as Drouin and MacKinnon were.

Ranger prospect Tommy Hughes (2013 UFA) was only a -2 (others were worse) but also took 2 third period penalties including one that led to a power play goal for Halifax. Not sold on Hughes developing into a NHL Top 4 but at least his play is a physical, in your face kind of defensive play. He hurts when he hits and other than the one hit against Ty Rattie on Tuesday, Hughes has been a clean hitter.

If there was any question which team of the 3 CHL league champions was the best then there is no question about Halifax being the far superior team having scored 9 on London and 7 on the Portland Winterhawks in the head to head matchups. As much as people were critical about Saskatoon's being in the Memorial Cup at least they have been competitive and I am pretty sure that if Halifax faces the Blades in the finals that there would not be a repeat of the upset.

The Mooseheads will be huge Portland Winterhawk fans on Wednesday night as a Portland win over Saskatoon would push the Mooseheads right to the Championship final on Sunday.

Nathan MacKinnon has made a pretty strong statement regarding who should be the number one pick in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft with a 4-4-8 effort in the 3 round robin games. I am a huge fan of Seth Jones but right now I would be lying if I didn't think MacKinnon has been the player who has done the most to live up to his pre-draft hype. Hopefully Jones will rise to the challenge because Portland now knows they need 3 straight wins to earn the Memorial Cup starting Wednesday night against Saskatoon.